I love to write, I love to read and I love the sea.

Summer or Winter in Books

I am very much a Fall and Winter person. I dislike the heat unless I am going swimming in the ocean. But for books, I’m torn. I love reading books that take place in the winter and make me feel all cozy. At the same time I love books that take place in the summer and the heat, in far off countries or strange fictional lands. I absolutely love writing about the winter or the rain.

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16 thoughts on “Summer or Winter in Books”

I like writing summer, because you can insert storms or droughts into the story as needed. Reading, I like both. Each season can greatly affect the flavor of the story. I’d never really thought about it before!

I like reading for the season The Snow Child and Ethan Frome were great winter books for me this year and having just read Barbara Kingsolver’sProdigal Summer that was a perfect summer read for sure. I read Susan Hill’sIn the Springime of the Year‘ during the Spring and was recommended a few for the Fall which I will be seeking out too.

I’m reading The Snow Child now, out of season, but I’m absolutely loving it! I like it so much I’ve been doling out the chapters to myself so it will take longer to end. 🙂 To me the season in the book has to go with the atmosphere of the plot and/or characters. I suppose I read winter more, though a hot wind and gathering storm has worked its way into my writing a few times.

I tend to feel what the characters are feeling. So if it’s cold in the book — or in a movie, for that matter — I feel cold. And I don’t like feeling cold, so I try to avoid books set entirely in the winter. When I watched Day After Tomorrow, I had to wrap myself up in a blanket and drink hot chocolate to get through it. Summer movies don’t affect me as much, probably because I enjoy being warm. I also prefer summer movies because the scenery – and even lighting! – is much warmer and inviting (I find) than in the winter.

I enjoy summer personally as a season, but when it comes to writing, I am actually just working on my first novel… (I have written lots of non-fiction before, but this is my first story). My tale covers the period of a year, and probably the most fun season to write was the winter scenes…

That’s a tough question. I’m a Fall/Winter person. Two books I read recently by authors Ian McEwan and Barbara Kingsolver really explore seasonal settings. I like them both and neither of them are Fall/Winter.

I prefer Fall/Winter as I’m not a fan of hot weather either, and there’s more urgency in cold weather. I love storms in real life, but in books I’ve read lately they’re an overused device. The only time I really think about seasons when picking up a books is with an author known for writing a specific one, like Elin Hilderbrand.